Jim Spencer

Haute coffee, served up by Louise

Louise stands at the corner of East Colfax and Elm in a purple and black leotard and open-toed Nine West sandals.

By The Denver Post

Posted:
06/11/2007 01:00:00 AM MDT

Louise, the mannequin mascot of Geez, Louise! Coffee House, beckons people into the shop. Many customers have added to her eclectic wardrobe. (Post / Jim Spencer)

Louise stands at the corner of East Colfax and Elm in a purple and black leotard and open-toed Nine West sandals. Her crimson toenails and fingernails glitter in the morning sun. Her raven hair hangs to her waist.

Dwyer and a friend have stopped their pickup to check out one of Denver's most engaging curiosities.

Each day for the past three and a half months, Louise has hailed passers-by in a different outfit. If you travel the Park Hill-Hale section of East Colfax between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays or 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekends, you've probably seen her - arm extended and looking, well, ah, different.

Denver fire engines recently saluted Louise with long horn blasts as she paired firefighters' turnout gear with a bikini top. Louise cheered on runners in last month's Colfax Marathon wearing Spandex and sneakers.

"I get all my fashion tips from Louise," said 49-year-old Kim Bailey. "She looks great in everything because she's a perfect size 8. I remember the gas mask. She's the only one who can pull that off."

Sure, Louise is a little stiff - she's made of fiberglass over a metal frame and has to be posed. But she continues to make fashion statements while attracting customers to an increasingly popular neighborhood gathering place that bears her name.

Advertisement

"She's our hostess," said Bill Sylvester, who with partner Dan Gundlach opened Geez, Louise! Coffee House at 4924 E. Colfax in February.

"We got her from a graduate student in Boulder who thought it was time to grow up," Gundlach said of the mannequin of his dreams. "That was fine with me because I was looking to stop growing up."

The steadily increasing trickle of customers into his new business has left Gundlach optimistic that he won't have to. "I feel like we're here to stay," he said.

Bailey, a thrice-weekly regular at Geez, Louise!, concurs.

"This place is funky but fun; it's so nice to have a neighborhood watering hole," said Bailey, who has lived in the area 20 years and remembers when "people were afraid to walk on Colfax."

"I used to work in coffee," Johnson said as she sat on a bench outside the coffee house. "I know how hard it is - the temperature, the timing, the foam. This is one of the best lattes I've ever had."

She'd have never discovered it without Louise.

"Louise," said Johnson, "had everything to do with me coming in. I wouldn't have known (Geez, Louise!) was here without her."

This is true for most customers, many of whom now contribute to Louise's vast wardrobe. One customer donated a manicure and pedicure. Everybody gives Louise outfits and wigs, from drag queens to little old ladies.

Cinco de Mayo found Louise in a sombrero and a halter top. But some days she's just another demure dame waving from a corner on Colfax.

Still, like most who have worked this street, Louise's life has not been without trauma.

"One day," said Gundlach, "there was a big gust of wind. Louise spun around and hit her head on the light post and fell into the gutter. She had multiple skull fractures, broke her elbow and lost a finger. I called a friend who's becoming a nurse. I told him I needed (intravenous feeding) tubes and (surgical) scrubs, stat."

For the next couple of days, Louise beckoned passers-by with stitches in her shaved head and an IV in her arm.